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Liang-rong Chen

Hello everyone,

A quick note on the TSMC Nanjing fab news that’s been causing some concern over the past couple of days.

On September 2 (Tuesday), TSMC confirmed it had received notice from the U.S. government that the “Validated End-User” (VEU) authorization for its Nanjing fab will be revoked as of December 31, 2025.

In other words, starting next year, whenever the Nanjing fab wants to purchase equipment from U.S. vendors such as Applied Materials or KLA, it will be subject to strict review and restrictions by the U.S. government.

This has raised worries: will the Nanjing fab—which contributes nearly 3% of TSMC’s profits—see its operations take a serious hit?

The answer is no. A former TSMC fab director told me that the Nanjing fab only has two phases, producing 16/12nm and 22/28nm mature process products.

Its capacity has long been fully built out, and it basically won’t need new equipment—at most just some component replacements. “It shouldn’t be serious,” he said.

He believes this move …